Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: The chief executive officers (CEO) of 13 US companies, including BASF and DuPont, are lobbying the President and Congress to enact business-led climate change legislation. This initiative, known as the CEO Climate Dialogue, urges the government to put in place a long-term federal policy as soon as possible, in accordance with a set of six guiding principles. The group aims to build bipartisan support for climate policies that it says will, “… increase regulatory and business certainty, reduce climate risk, and spur investment and innovation needed to meet science-based emissions reduction targets.”

Companies involved in the CEO Dialogue include BASF, BP, Citi, Dominion Energy, Dow, DTE Energy, DuPont, Exelon, Ford Motor Company, LafargeHolcim, PG&E, Shell, and Unilever. Four environmental groups have also supplied input to the initiative. These are the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, Environmental Defense Fund, the Nature Conservancy and World Resources Institute.

The six principles include: ‘significantly’ reducing US greenhouse gas emissions; allowing an effective timeline for reductions that will enable capital intensive industries to adjust in an ‘economically rational manner’; instituting a market-based price on carbon; making the policies durable and responsible; doing no harm to the competitiveness of the US economy with particular attention to carbon leakage; and promoting equity. Specifically the initiative says that US policy should ensure the country is on a path to achieve economy-wide emissions reductions of 80% or more by 2050 with ‘aggressive’ short and medium term emissions reductions.

“DuPont is pleased to be part of the CEO Climate Dialogue and support its guiding principles to accelerate the development of federal policy on climate change. At DuPont, our science and innovation is inextricably linked with sustainability practices that deliver specialised materials that contribute to a safer, healthier, more sustainable world. We believe strong, consistent policy measures and a cohesive regulatory environment are needed to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy and foster innovation, investment and economic growth,” said Marc Doyle, CEO-Elect of DuPont.

Lithuania: Paroc plans to increase the production capacity of its stone wool plant in Vilnius to 115,000t/yr from 75,000t/yr. The subsidiary of US-based Owens Corning intends to make multiple minor upgrades to reach this goal, according to the Verslo Zinios newspaper. It hopes to achieve the increased production capacity by 2022 subject to market demand.

UK: Superglass’ revenue grew by 34% year-on-year to Euro37.9m in 2018 from Euro27.2m in 2017. Its profit rose by 37% to Euro0.65m. The subsidiary of Russia’s TechnoNicol Group said that it benefitted from increased sales, higher selling prices and operational cost efficiencies.

“Demand for glass wool insulation continues to be very strong both domestically and in export markets, and with the major manufacturing investment we’re making in the Stirling site, Superglass is set to double its production output capabilities and capitalise on the opportunity,” said Theresa McLean, Chief Financial Officer for TechnoNicol UK and Ireland.

US: Owens Corning has received R-value certification across all its fibreglass and mineral wool batts and rolls sold in the US. This validation was awarded from the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA) following testing and validation by an accredited third-party laboratory.

Under the program, Owens Corning agreed to have a random selection of products regularly tested to verify compliance with the thermal performance requirements of the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) ‘Labeling and Advertising of Home Insulation’ (16 CFR Part 460) regulation.

The R-value certification represents the latest in third-party verification Owens Corning has earned across its insulation product portfolio. It will be visible on its packaging later in 2019.

US: Researchers at Washington State University (WSU) have developed an alternative to extruded polystyrene foam that uses nanocrystals of cellulose instead of petroleum based products. The team, led by Amir Ameli, assistant professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and Xiao Zhang, associate professor in the Gene and Linda School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, have also developed a manufacturing process to make the foam using water as a solvent.

The project is working on developing an environmentally friendly replacement for extruded polystyrene foam. The WSU team created a material that is made of about 75% cellulose nanocrystals from wood pulp. They added polyvinyl alcohol, another polymer that bonds with the nanocellulose crystals and makes the resultant foams more elastic.

“We have used an easy method to make high-performance, composite foams based on nanocrystalline cellulose with an excellent combination of thermal insulation capability and mechanical properties,” said Ameli.

The researchers are now developing formulations for stronger and more durable materials for practical applications. They are interested in incorporating low‑cost feedstocks to make a commercially viable product and considering how to move from laboratory to a real-world manufacturing scale.